The Respiratory system

The main purpose of the respiratory system is

to supply the blood with oxygen in order for
the blood to circulate the oxygen to the rest
of the body. The body needs oxygen to
release the energy from food, in a reaction
know as respiration. When we breathe in
(inhale) we take in oxygen and when we
breathe out (exhale) we are removing carbon
dioxide.

We breathe using muscles around the

lungs and the diaphragm. When we
breathe in, the diaphragm contracts
and pushes down. This allows the
lungs to expand and air to be sucked
in. When we breathe out, the
diaphragm relaxes, making the lungs smaller and the air is pushed out.
DEMONSTRATION: MODEL LUNGS IN A JAR
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Breathing is normally an unconscious action, but we realise that muscles are involved
when we try to breathe out fully.
The largest volume of air that you can breathe in or out at one time is called your vital
capacity.
Class Practical Activity: How much air can you force out of your lungs? ___________
The highest volume of air exhaled was __________________
The lowest volume of air exhaled was ___________________

Pathway of the air:

After entering your body, the air moves into a
narrow tube called the trachea (wind pipe).
There is a flap at the top, called the
epiglottis, which stops food going down the
wrong pipe. The trachea divides into two
narrower tubes called the bronchi (or
bronchus). Inside the lung, each tube
branches into many smaller tubes called
bronchioles. The bronchioles branch out,
getting smaller and smaller until they end at
tiny air sacs called alveoli.
The Alveoli is where the process called
gas exchange takes place. Oxygen is
transferred from the alveoli into the
blood, and carbon dioxide is transferred
from the blood back into the alveoli and
then breathed out. Gas exchange can
happen because the Alveoli are only one
cell thick! They also have lots of tiny
blood vessels next to them, so the Oxygen
doesnt have far to go.

Why do you think smokers have more trouble breathing or are often short of breath?
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Why do you think asthmatics can sometimes struggle to breathe?

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Could smokers and asthmatics be given the same treatment to help them breathe?
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Practical Activity: Breathing Rate

We now know what the respiratory system does. We know how breathing works. How
does the breathing rate change with different conditions?
Task:
A student places a hand just below the chest cavity of their partner and observes that
they can feel the rise and fall of the chest cavity with each breath. You must count the
number of breaths in a minute:
Condition

Partner:

Self:

Sitting
Standing
Immediately after 1 lap of the
primary school oval

What do you notice about the link between the number of breaths and the
conditions?
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How can you explain this observation?
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Label the diagram using the terms at the bottom:

Smoking ban worksheet

Read the BBC News article: Smoking bans cut asthma and premature births by 10%, study says
below and answer the following questions.
1. What are the main findings of international study about smoking bans published in the Lancet
magazine?
2. The research team was based in many countries. List the number of countries involved in the
study
3. When was the smoking ban introduced in England?
4. The article also voices the opinion of a smokers group. What do they say?
5. What do you think, was it right to ban smoking in public spaces?
6. Should smoking be banned in all PUBLIC places such as streets and parks? Why?

HEALTH
28 March 2014 Last updated at 01:24 GMT

Smoking bans cut asthma and premature births by 10%, study

says
Laws banning smoking in public places have had a positive impact on child health,
an international study in the Lancet suggests.
Researchers found a 10% reduction in premature births and severe childhood asthma
attacks within a year of smoke-free laws being introduced.
A research team analysed 11 previous studies from North America and Europe.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said smoking bans benefitted
adults and children.
'Clear evidence'
This is one of the first large studies to look at how anti-smoking laws in different countries
and states are affecting the health of children living in those regions.
Laws that prohibit smoking in public places, such as bars, restaurants and workplaces,
have already been shown to protect adults from the dangers of passive smoking.
In this study, researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Maastricht University, Hasselt
University in Belgium, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital looked
at more than 2.5 million births and almost 250,000 hospital attendances for asthma attacks
in children.
Dr Jasper Been, lead study author from the Maastricht University Medical Centre in The
Netherlands, said the research on children under 12 was revealing.
"Our study provides clear evidence that smoking bans have considerable public health

benefits for perinatal and child health, and provides strong support for WHO
recommendations to create smoke-free public environments on a national level."
The study also found a 5% decline in children being born very small for their age after the
introduction of smoke-free laws. Co-author Professor Aziz Sheikh, of Brigham and
Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts, and the University of Edinburgh, said there
was potential to improve the health of more children.
"The many countries that are yet to enforce smoke-free legislation should in the light of
these findings reconsider their positions on this important health policy question."
Previous research suggests that 40% of children worldwide are regularly exposed to
second-hand smoke, which has been shown to be a cause of respiratory disease and a
trigger for asthma attacks in children. Recent European research also showed that passive
smoking causes thickening of children's arteries, which can increase the risk of heart
attacks and strokes in later life.
Experts say children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of second-hand
smoke because their lungs and immune systems are still developing.
At present, 16% of the world's population is covered by smoke-free laws. Scotland
introduced a ban on smoking in enclosed public places in 2006, and England in 2007.
Commenting on the study, Professor Ronnie Lamont from the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the study provided further evidence that smoking
bans had substantial health benefits for adults and children.
"Smoking during pregnancy has been shown to have adverse effects on foetal
development and pregnant women need to be informed of the risks and should be offered
advice and support to help them give up. "It is important that healthcare professionals
encourage women to lead a healthy lifestyle." The Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists said it supported recommendations for further implementation of smoke
free environments.
'Gross overreaction'
A Department of Health spokesman said it wanted to build on the smoking ban by making
it illegal for adults to buy cigarettes for children and to smoke in cars carrying children.
"We are also stopping tobacco being sold from vending machines and increasing the tax
on tobacco and banning displays," it said.
But Simon Clark, director of the smokers' group Forest, said children tended to be exposed
to second-hand smoke in the home, "so workplace smoking bans would have little or no
impact on children". "If the report is suggesting that environmental tobacco smoke is the
only or principal cause of childhood asthma, that's ridiculous," he said.
"In the UK the number of people suffering from asthma has tripled in the last 40 years.
During that same period the number of people who smoke has halved and today relatively
few children are exposed to tobacco smoke in confined spaces such as homes and cars."
Mr Clark added that calling for more countries to introduce comprehensive smoke-free
legislation was "a gross overreaction.

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